Father Sam Sirianni, temporary administrator of Holy Trinity Parish, Long Branch, announced May 8 that Holy Trinity School will close its doors at the end of the school year due to a serious decline in enrollment.

Father Sirianni announced that the parish will offer significant tuition aid scholarships for current students to attend one of three area Catholic schools in the 2006-2007 academic year.

During a meeting of parish and school community members, Father Sirianni explained that too few students had enrolled for September for the school to be viable, even with the offer of a generous donation on the part of a benefactor. According to enrollment figures as of May 5, only 68 students had expressed the intention to attend Holy Trinity School. Of that number, only 43 had paid registration fees.

School families had been advised by letter in March and again on May 1 that registrations were needed. The May 1 letter issued a May 5 deadline for an additional 45 students to register, which would have brought enrollment close to the 115 students regarded by the diocesan Office of Catholic schools as a necessary first step in the effort to gain stability and work toward long-term viability. The additional students did not enroll, and the decision was finalized May 5 to close the school when classes dismiss in June.

Holy Trinity School was one of the schools originally earmarked for closure or consolidation by the diocese-commissioned Strategic Planning Process that concluded its Monmouth County phase in November. On January 18, Bishop John M. Smith announced that due to a pending offer by a benefactor to help fund the school, the bishop would not accept the recommendation to close the school, which had experienced a steady decline in enrollment over the past 15 years and a heavy debt burden that escalated each year.

When a substantial donation was received in late January, the announcement was made that Holy Trinity would remain open for the next school year, during which time “members of this community will develop and implement a plan to provide for the long-term viability,” according to a diocesan statement dated Feb. 2. The reality was, however, that despite an intense marketing effort, next year’s enrollment shrunk even beyond its critically low 96 that will finish out the current school year.

Dr. Judith A. Caviston, diocesan secretary for education and superintendent of schools, remarked that school viability is based on more than funding.

“When a K-8 enrollment slips below 100 students, it means there are not enough students in the class to promote necessary interaction, healthy scholastic competition and important socialization skills.”

Father Sirianni reported that Holy Trinity Parish will uphold its commitment to Catholic education by providing $1,000 scholarships to the current students of Holy Trinity to attend any of the following schools – Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Asbury Park Pope John XXIII Regional School, Ocean Township, and St. Jerome, West Long Branch. These scholarships will not impact on a family’s ability to receive the tuition aid funding issued by the Diocese of Trenton each year. Father Sirianni has noted that the scholarships will continue for a minimum of three years for any student who is now in Holy Trinity School and who continues in one of the three cited schools.

In the coming weeks, Holy Trinity School will host an Information Night to assist school families in making the transition. Representatives from Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Pope John XXIII and St. Jerome Schools will showcase their programs and answer questions. Parents will be informed soon about the date.

Holy Trinity School first opened its doors in 1962. Father Sirianni, who is himself a native of Holy Trinity Parish and a member of the school’s first graduating class, expressed the personal difficulty involved in announcing the school’s closing, but renewed the parish’s pledge to support Catholic school education well into the future.